1. Character development with consistency. Yes, Jan started out in the 60s as probably Marvel's greatest ditz. She spent much of her early career with the Avengers alternating between drooling over Thor's "dreamy" muscles (supposedly in an effort to make clueless Hank Pym jealous) and being captured, with her shrinking power portrayed as useful only in very specific or novel situations.
This is pretty typical of most Silver Age Marvel heroines--Stan Lee (who I still think is awesome, but seriously!) made a point of including some "girl stuff" in just about every issue his female characters appeared in. Usually this took the form of an interest in fashion, annoyance at a broken nail or messed hair after a battle, flirting with the male characters (and in any group setting, at least two or three of the men would have a crush on the one woman, making it clear that even her colleagues thought of her as "a woman" as well), or something to indicate that, despite the great power these women wielded, at heart they were still the girl next door. Hell, Sharon Carter came close to quitting SHIELD because Cap asked her to! (Speaking of unfortunate characterizations...)
For most of these characters, however, these characterizations disappeared by at least the late seventies. That's not a bad thing by any means, but it does mean that there's a great disparity between (for example) Sue Storm in the 60s who gets all weepy because the fans don't think she's pulling her weight, and Sue Richards from the 70s on who is quite obviously the power in her group. You tend to wonder how that happened.
Jan, on the other hand, didn't lose her early characterization--it evolved. Leading us to...
2. Competence. Jan is always going to have some stereotypically female points. For one, her obsession with fashion, which became a full-fledged career as a fashion designer where she has always been shown as a great success both as a creative talent and as a businesswoman (she may have gotten the seed money for this from her inheritance, but she's gone far beyond being simply an heiress).
And as a hero? Well, she's been Avengers chair, granted that was some time ago but she did a good job (until some writer decided that the stress was too much for her... :P). Her powers have grown steadily greater over the years--the "wasp sting" changing from an annoying distraction into a blast that could easily knock out quite a few of the Avengers' foes. She's worked on improving her abilities. She added growth to her repertoire. Note that a lot of folks in the Marvel universe have a hard time dealing with size-changing powers, either physically or emotionally--Jan never has. This is someone you know can do pretty much anything she puts her mind to.
3. Resilience. Well, most heroes are pretty resilient. One issue they're captured and tortured, the next they're cracking wise in the heat of battle. This isn't a unique characteristic. But Jan has always displayed a great deal of strength and resolve, while never becoming grim or jaded or filled with angst. Writers try to give her the angst, but it never, ever sticks. She retains her essential optimism and confidence regardless of what happens to her.
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